Kaufman County officials held a media and community briefing on the proposed transportation and justice center bonds that will be on the November 5, 2013, ballot for Kaufman County residents to vote for or against. Nearly 100 county officials filled the Trinity Valley Electric Co-op meeting room on Tuesday morning, October 1, 2013.
Kaufman County officials held a media and community briefing on the proposed transportation and justice center bonds that will be on the November 5, 2013, ballot for Kaufman County residents to vote for or against. Nearly 100 county officials filled the Trinity Valley Electric Co-op meeting room on Tuesday morning, October 1, 2013.
Justice center bond referendum:
The county enrolled the use of design, architecture, engineering, and planning firm HOK to prepare the proposed justice center bond referendum. HOK Global Director Jeff Bradley and Director of Architecture Curt Parde spoke on behalf of HOK and outlined the purposes of the justice center bond.
Previous Commissioners' Court workshops helped determine, if approved by the voters of the county, a new justice center would be built next to the Kaufman County Law Enforcement Center that currently houses the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office and the Kaufman County Jail. The proposed 66,905 square foot justice center would house the judges, the District Clerk's office, the County Clerk's office, the District Attorney's office, and have five new modern courtrooms. The bond referendum amount to build the justice center is $19,850,000.
The current Kaufman County Courthouse was built in 1956 and according to the study conducted by HOK, presents serious safety hazards with circulation paths. The State of Texas is also requiring the removal of the current safety checkpoint at the front of the courthouse because of historical guidelines. The county has already exhausted all extensions filed to keep the checkpoint in place and its removal is marked for 2015.
Circulation paths are the paths traveled in the courthouse by judges, the public, and inmates. Currently, all circulation paths share the same hallways at the courthouse; inmates are routinely escorted past families, victims, plaintiffs, prosecutors, and judges. According to HOK, modern courthouses have separate circulation paths for the public, judges and staff, and inmates allowing them to only meet in a secure courtroom setting. This also helps prevent attempted escapes. If built next to the jail, prisoners will no longer need to be transported to downtown Kaufman for trial.
The Kaufman County Justice Complex master plan completed in 2002 shows a future courts building location near the Kaufman County Law Enforcement Center as proposed now. The proposed location is also already owned by Kaufman County. According to the study, other county departments, which were previously vacated because of space restrictions, will move back into the Kaufman County Courthouse.
The projected tax implication is 2.3 cents per $100 home valuation. Residential homesteads occupied by residents over 65 years of age who have qualified for freeze exemptions will not see a tax increase. The average home value in Kaufman County is $122,000. The average homeowner will see a $2.44 increase in their property taxes each month and $29.98 annually.
The justice center bond is set for 20 years and, if approved, construction could begin in August 2014 and be completed in December 2015.
Kaufman County District Attorney Erleigh Wiley spoke on the security of the courthouse after the murders earlier this year of then Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia McLelland, and Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse. Wiley said, “The people that work in my office they're young people with young children and they deserve for their families to feel very safe when they go to work. I think it's the least we can do for them as a community for what they do for us.”
Transportation bond referendum:
The Kaufman County transportation bond is a little more complicated than the justice center bond because it includes 26 transportation projects from all over the county. The transportation bond referendum amounts to $56 million on a 20 year bond. This would equate to a 3.6 cent tax increase per $100 home valuation. The average homeowner would see a $3.66 monthly increase in taxes and $43.92 annually.
The 3.6 cent tax increase will be applied after all the bonds are sold, according to Kaufman County Judge Bruce Wood. “That will be when all those bonds are sold. We are not selling all $56 million at one time. Those bonds will be sold over a period of three, four, or five years perhaps, depending on when the projects are ready.”
The county employed Freese and Nichols to conduct the transportation bond study. According to Kevin Johnson with Freese and Nichols, 80 projects were initially submitted for consideration in the bond program which totaled over $400 million.
The 26 proposed projects actually total approximately $107,300,000 but outside funding from local funding, TxDOT, and other federal dollars will be used to fill the deficit.
$4 million of the bond will be dedicated to funding county road materials, $1 million in each precinct. $19.2 million will be designated for Pass-Through Toll projects, $2.6 million for intersection safety improvements, $6.9 million for advanced planning, $2 million for county-wide transportation studies, $3 million for strategic project funding, and $18.3 million for general roadway design and construction.
What does this mean for Forney? According to the project list, $2 million will be designated for the US Highway 80 ramp relocations, the Liberty Hill Project, from FM 460 to FM 740/Pinson Road. $1.8 million is for advanced planning of FM 1641 from FM 548 to IH 20. $2.6 million for advanced planning of FM 548 north of US Highway 80 to the Rockwall County Line near SH 205.
An additional $2.6 million is designated for Phase 1 of the FM 548 widening project. The total project cost is $8.5 million and according to the project list, $5.95 million will be paid by TxDOT. The project proposes a 4-lane divided roadway from Walmart to Reeder Lane and a traffic signal study at Ridgecrest Road and FM 548.
Election day is November 5, 2013, and the ballot will include two separate items for each of the bond referendums. Early voting begins on Monday, October 21, 2013.
Additional information is provided by the county at www.KaufmanCountyTransportation.com. An interactive map can be used below to explore the different projects. Map provided by Freese and Nichols.